gaia

Posted on 2024-11-11.

visitors standing among giant artworks hanging along the curved walls of the gallery: abstract charcoal paintings by Xiyao Wang — Xiyao Wang’s (王茜瑶) abstract paintings (Before the Sun goes Down No. 1 and Liang Xiao Yin No. 1)

Yesterday, I went to see the Bangkok Art Biennale’s Nurture Gaia exhibits, which brought a welcome end to the past three months’ AI-generated photography exhibit* at BACC. Here are some photos I took, all of which were taken with a phone.† The full exhibit features 76 artists from 39 countries and runs until February 25, 2025. If you’re in Bangkok, you should definitely check it out.

Fair warning: a lot of the sites linked here are guilty of atrocious UX.‡ I simply added them out of respect to and for the purposes of referencing the artists whose works I’m sharing here.

a giant lotus flower sculpture in front of the BACC — lotus sculpture — part of the Breathing series by Korean artist Choi Jeonghwa (최정화)

a sign in front of a powered-off screen that says 'The artwork is undergoing repairs' — Not an art piece but I found this funny. The artwork is undergoing repairs. I should use this as the default 404 image response. Maybe it is art after all.

a machine paints plants on a large canvas — Artificial green by nature green by Kei Imazu (今津景) and Bagus Pandega. The painted image get partially erased by water.

a machine paints plants on a large canvas; a palm tree sits beside it — Artificial green by nature green by Kei Imazu and Bagus Pandega. The whole painting mechanism is controlled bioelectrodes hooked to the palm tree that sits on the side of the exhibit. It symbolises how Indonesia’s palm oil industry is affecting their forests.

a screen showing a livestream of the River Thames in London — River Thames. Rising Tides by Susan Collins. Images are rendered over 6 hours to capture tidal effects in the respective rivers. Reminds me of Xárene Eskandar’s time-slice photography.

a screen showing a livestream of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok — Chao Phraya. Rising Tides by Susan Collins

3D-printed seashell sculptures adorned with small cityscapes arranged in a row in a glass box — Why Not Hand Over a "Shelter" to Hermit Crabs? by Japanese artist Aki Inomata

a close-up shot of a 3D-printed seashell with a tiny cityscape of Hong Kong resting on it — Why Not Hand Over a "Shelter" to Hermit Crabs? (Hong Kong) (2018) by Aki Inomata

an image of the late Queen Elizabeth II in an oyster shell — Memory of Currency (2021) by Aki Inomata. The artist implanted 3D portraits (of historical figures featured in currencies) into pearl oysters that coat them in mother-of-pearl.

a black iron spoon sits on top of a pile of sand; a video showing the creation of said spoon is projected on the wall behind it — A Spoon Made From The Land by Mai Yamashita (山下麻衣) and Naoto Kobayashi (小林直人. The spoon is made of iron extracted from sand.

two people are standing among some giant inflated sculptures of a watermelon, an onion, and a strawberry — Breathing by Korean artist Choi Jeonghwa. By far the most popular exhibit, it’s hard to take photos here.

words on a white floor formed using crushed wood; they repeat and cascade towards a central point in a circle — Fading into Nothingness by Thai artist Yanawit Kunchaethong (ญาณวิทย์ กุญแจทอง). The text in Thai translates to Will count the days and nights that will never return. The "dust" used to form the words comes from a 40-year-old Siamese rosewood tree that was cut down during the construction of a solar power plant.

strips and sheets of paper with shapes and patterns drawn with various plant pigments — Experimental solution 57 by Yanawit Kunchaethong. Plant pigments on paper.

a dirty white shirt hangs above a pile of potatoes on a white round table — Are you Hungry? by Serbian opera singer and performance artist Aleksandar Timotić. The public was invited to peel potatoes with the artist whilst singing traditional Serbian folk songs. I missed it. You can watch a short video of the same performance (but at Museum Folkwang in Germany)

abstract patterns made from natural materials — Mana Dame Butterfly (2024) by East Timorese artist Maria Madeira. Red earth, betelnut, ink, charcoal, and pencil on tais.

abstract patterns on two pieces of paper — From the Earth, Study I and II (2024) by Maria Madeira. Red earth and betelnut.

a collection of colourful ceramic mugs on display — Pots of Purpose by LAMUNLAMAI. Some of these are funny. I want one.

an upside-down white ceramic mug titled 'No. 33 I'm not weird, you're just too normal' — I’m not weird, you’re just too normal

—josh